Executor questions, answered plainly

There are two different documents people mix up, and you'll likely need both:

1. The funeral director's Proof of Death certificate. The funeral home issues this within days. Many banks and some benefit claims accept it for immediate, smaller tasks.
2. The government Death Certificate from the BC Vital Statistics Agency. This is the official one. Land title transfers, CRA, larger financial institutions, insurers, and pension plans usually require it.

How to actually do it:

• Easiest path: your funeral home will usually order the government death certificate(s) for you as part of their service — just tell them how many you want. If you're not using a funeral home, or need more later, order directly from the BC Vital Statistics Agency online (through the gov.bc.ca Vital Statistics / Service BC portal), by mail, or in person at a Service BC office. You must be an eligible applicant (executor or next of kin) and provide the deceased's details.
• Cost: a BC death certificate is in the range of about $27 each — confirm the current fee on the Vital Statistics page before ordering.
• How many: order more than you think — many executors get 5 to 10. The bank, the land title office, CRA, each insurer, and each pension or investment provider may each want their own copy, and re-ordering mid-process slows everything down.

Practical tip: keep a log of who you gave each certificate to, so you always know how many are still circulating.

Two searches, and you should do both — one physical, one official.

The official one first, because it's slow and probate requires it: BC keeps a wills registry at the Vital Statistics Agency. It doesn't store wills — it stores wills notices saying "a will exists and here's where it was kept." Before a BC probate application can be filed, the registry must be searched; the search certificate gets filed with the probate application itself. So even if you're holding the will, you still need this search.

How to actually do it: download Form VSA 532 (Application for Search of Wills Notice) from the BC government's wills registry page, complete it, and mail it to the Vital Statistics Agency with the fee (around $20 — confirm the current amount on the form) and proof of death (the funeral director's proof of death works). You can also submit it at a Service BC office. Results commonly take a few weeks — order it in your first couple of weeks, not the day you're ready to file. There's a full walkthrough of the wills notice search.

The physical search: check the desk, home safe, and important-papers drawer; ask the deceased's lawyer or notary (call and ask "do you hold a will for [name], or did you file a wills notice?"); check for a safety deposit box — with the death certificate, the bank will generally let the executor or next of kin do a supervised search of the box specifically to look for a will, even before probate. If the will was at a law firm that has since closed, contact the Law Society of BC — it tracks where closed firms' wills files went.

Two cautions: a wills notice tells you where the will was when the notice was filed — it may have moved since. And no notice doesn't mean no will: filing a notice is voluntary, so keep looking even if the search comes back empty.

Later than most executors expect. In BC, you generally must not distribute the estate until 210 days have passed after the grant of probate is issued — unless everyone entitled consents or the court orders otherwise.

Why 210 days: BC law gives the deceased's spouse and children 180 days from the grant to file a wills variation claim (asking the court to change what the will gives them), plus 30 more days to serve it on you. Distribute before that window closes and a claim later succeeds, and you can be personally on the hook for what you paid out.

How to actually handle it:

• Mark the date: take the issue date printed on your grant, add 210 days, and put it in your calendar. That's your earliest safe full-distribution date (absent consents).
• Want to pay something out earlier? Get written consent first — from all beneficiaries AND everyone who could bring a variation claim (the spouse and children, even ones left out of the will). A probate lawyer can confirm who needs to sign; this is exactly the situation (blended family, a disinherited child) where an hour of legal advice is cheap insurance.
• Interim distributions with a holdback are common practice once the window looks clear — pay out most, keep a reserve for bills and surprises.
• Don't confuse this with the tax holdback. Even after 210 days, keep a reserve until the CRA issues a clearance certificate (you request it with Form TX19 after the final tax returns are assessed). Distribute everything before clearance and the CRA can look to you personally for unpaid estate taxes.

The 210-day rule is the single most common "nobody told me" trap for BC executors — beneficiaries push to be paid, and the calendar, not their patience, is what protects you.

No — it's optional. But it's the cheapest liability protection an executor can buy, so understand what it does before you skip it.

What it does: if you formally publish a notice to creditors and wait out the claim deadline before distributing, you're protected from being personally liable for debts you didn't know about that surface later. Without the notice, an unknown creditor who appears after you've paid out the estate can potentially look to you personally. With it, they can only chase what beneficiaries received — their problem, not your wallet.

How to actually do it: in BC, the notice is published in the BC Gazette (Part I) — the province's official record. Submit it through the BC Gazette's website (run by Crown Publications; search "BC Gazette notice to creditors"). The notice names the estate, tells creditors where to send claims (usually you or the estate's lawyer), and must give them at least 30 days. Budget roughly $150–$200 for the publication fee — confirm the current rate when you submit. Keep the published notice with your estate records as proof.

When it clearly earns its fee: the deceased ran a business, had debts you can't fully reconcile, lived somewhere else recently, or their paperwork is a mess. When executors often skip it: a simple estate where the finances are transparent and the executor is also the main beneficiary (you'd mostly be protecting you from yourself).

Sequence tip: publish early — the 30-day clock can run while you're waiting on the grant and the 210-day variation window anyway, so done at the right time it costs no extra calendar days at all.

All of them are free from the BC government's probate forms page (they come from the Supreme Court Civil Rules, Part 25). For a typical estate with a will, the core package is:

• Form P1 — Notice of Proposed Application: mailed or delivered to every beneficiary and heir at least 21 days before you file
• Form P2 — Submission for Estate Grant: the cover application
• Form P3 (or P4) — Affidavit of Applicant: your sworn statement (P4 is the long form, used when anything about the will is irregular)
• Form P9 — Affidavit of Delivery: proves you sent the P1 notices
• Form P10 — Affidavit of Assets and Liabilities: the estate inventory the probate fee is calculated from

How to do it: complete the forms, wait out the 21 days, then file the package — with the original will and proof of death — at any BC Supreme Court probate registry and pay the fee. Registry staff will check the package for completeness, but they can't give legal advice.

We explain the whole set in plain language on the BC probate forms page, or jump straight to a single form: P1, P2, P3/P4, P9, P10.

Plan for a few months, in three stages:

1. The 21-day notice wait. After mailing the Form P1 notice to beneficiaries and heirs, you must wait 21 days before you can file your application.
2. Registry processing. Once filed, expect a few weeks to a couple of months depending on the registry's backlog — longer if anything in the package gets sent back for correction.
3. The 210-day hold before distributing. After the grant issues, a spouse or child has 210 days to bring a wills variation claim, so executors generally should not pay out the estate before that window closes (see the 210-day rule question below).

How to check status: call the probate registry where you filed and quote your court file number.

The trap to avoid: distributing too early. If you pay out the estate and a claim or unknown debt surfaces inside the protected windows, you can be personally liable — the calendar, not the beneficiaries' patience, is what protects you.

Being named executor in a will doesn't force you to take the job. If you don't want it — and you haven't already started acting in the role — you can formally step aside.

• File a Form P17 (Notice of Renunciation) with a probate registry of the BC Supreme Court. Signing it gives up your right to apply for the grant and to act as executor.
• Renounce BEFORE you start acting. Once you've "intermeddled" (begun handling estate assets — paying bills from estate funds, dealing with the bank), the court may not let you walk away cleanly.
• Who steps in next depends on the will. Many wills name an alternate (substitute) executor — read the appointment clause; it usually says "if X is unable or unwilling to act, I appoint Y." That person then applies instead.
• If there's no alternate, or everyone named renounces, the people who inherit (usually the residual beneficiaries) can apply for a grant of administration with will annexed — the court appoints an administrator to carry out the existing will, using a Form P5-type affidavit rather than the P3/P4 an executor files.

How to actually do it: download Form P17 from the BC government probate forms page, complete and sign it (a notary or commissioner for oaths can witness), then file it at the probate registry — or hand it to whoever IS applying so they file it with their package. If you're unsure whether you've already "intermeddled," talk to a probate lawyer before signing anything.

You're allowed to say no. What you can't do is half-act and then quit — so decide early.

BC charges a probate fee on the gross value of the assets passing through probate, paid to the court when you file. The schedule (verify current figures on the BC government's probate fees page):

• $0 if the estate is $25,000 or less
• $6 per $1,000 on the portion between $25,000 and $50,000 (so at most $150 for this band)
• $14 per $1,000 on everything above $50,000
• Plus a $200 application fee for estates over $25,000

Example: a $600,000 estate pays $150 on the $25,000–$50,000 band plus $7,700 on the $550,000 above that — $7,850 in probate fees, plus the $200 application fee: about $8,050 all-in.

How to estimate yours: total the date-of-death value of the assets that need probate (leave out joint-with-survivorship assets and accounts with a named beneficiary), then use our BC probate fee calculator to get the number in seconds.

Lawyer and accountant fees are separate — the court fee is only one part of what settling an estate costs.

The CPP death benefit is a one-time payment from the Canada Pension Plan, paid if the deceased contributed enough to CPP — which most working adults did. The base amount is $2,500. For deaths on or after January 1, 2025 there is also a possible top-up of another $2,500 — $5,000 total — paid only if both are true: the deceased never received a CPP retirement pension or CPP disability benefit based on their own contributions, and no surviving spouse or common-law partner qualifies for the CPP survivor’s pension. In plain terms: someone who died before ever drawing CPP, leaving no spouse who can claim the survivor’s pension, gets $5,000; most others get $2,500. There is no separate application — Service Canada assesses the top-up with the regular death benefit application (verify current figures on canada.ca).

Who applies: the executor, first in line — you should apply within 60 days of the death. If no executor applies within 60 days, then the person who paid the funeral, the surviving spouse, or next of kin can apply instead. In practice: if you're the executor, just do it in your first month.

How to actually do it: apply online through My Service Canada Account, or on paper with Form ISP1200 (Application for a Canada Pension Plan Death Benefit) — download it from canada.ca and mail it to the Service Canada address listed on the form. Have ready: the deceased's Social Insurance Number, proof of death (the funeral director's proof of death is fine), and your authority (the will naming you, or the funeral receipt if you're applying as the person who paid). Payment typically arrives in 6 to 12 weeks. Many funeral homes include the forms in their paperwork package — ask them.

Tax note: the death benefit is taxable — it's normally reported on the estate's T3 return, not the deceased's final personal return. Tell whoever is doing the estate's taxes that it exists.

Don't stop at the death benefit — two more that get missed: the CPP survivor's pension for the spouse or common-law partner (Form ISP1300) and the children's benefit for dependent kids under 18, or under 25 in school (Form ISP1400) — each needs its own application. And cancel the deceased's own CPP/OAS payments right away by calling Service Canada at 1-800-277-9914: benefits paid for any month after the month of death must be repaid, and the clawback letter is an unwelcome surprise months later.

BC doesn't have a separate small-estates court, but small, simple estates often don't need a full grant of probate at all — and that's the shortcut most people are really looking for.

Two things to understand:

1. The fee threshold. BC charges no probate fee on estates of $25,000 or less. But whether you NEED probate depends less on a single number and more on what the person owned and who holds it.
2. What the institutions will do — this is the practical lever. Banks, credit unions, and investment firms each set their own internal limit for releasing funds without a court grant. For a modest account, many will release the money to the executor on a signed indemnity/declaration instead of demanding a grant — often somewhere in the rough range of $15,000–$25,000, but every institution sets its own limit and it's entirely at their discretion. There is no province-wide rule.

How to actually do it: before assuming you must file anything, phone each institution that holds an asset (bank, credit union, pension or investment firm) and ask one direct question — "What do you require to release this account: a grant of probate, or will an indemnity/declaration do?" Get the answer in writing if you can. If every asset-holder will release without a grant AND there's no real estate held solely in the deceased's name, you may be able to settle the estate without going to court at all.

The catch: the moment real estate held solely by the deceased is involved, the BC land title office will almost always require a grant before the property can be transferred or sold.

When there's no will, no one is automatically "the executor." Someone applies to the court to be appointed administrator, and BC's Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA) sets the order of who has the strongest right to apply:

1. The spouse (married, or in a marriage-like relationship of at least 2 years), or a person the spouse nominates
2. A child of the deceased (with the consent of a majority of the children, where there are several)
3. Other descendants or next of kin, in the order WESA lays out, if there's no spouse or children
4. If no one steps forward, or the estate is complex or contested, the BC Public Guardian and Trustee may administer it

How to actually do it:

• The applicant files for a grant of administration. The core sworn document is a Form P5 (Affidavit of Applicant), filed with a Form P2 (Submission for Estate Grant).
• You still give the 21-day notice first: mail or deliver a Form P1 to everyone with an interest — here, the people who would inherit under intestacy — then prove you sent it with a Form P9 (Affidavit of Delivery).
• Because there's no will naming who inherits, WESA's intestacy rules decide that too. In broad strokes: a spouse with no children inherits everything; a spouse with children takes a preferential share and then splits the rest with them; with no spouse, it flows to children, then to more distant relatives. The exact split matters and is easy to get wrong.

If several people have equal rank (say, several adult children) and disagree about who applies, the court can require their consent or choose among them — sort this out early to avoid a contested application. Because intestacy math and priority are easy to misjudge, this is a sensible point to get a probate lawyer's read — and there's a full walkthrough of applying without a will. You can find BC probate lawyers in the Foxglove directory.

Not always. Probate is the BC Supreme Court confirming the will is valid and that you have authority to act. Whether you need it depends on what the person owned — and who holds it.

How to find out, concretely: call the estates department of each bank or investment firm that holds an asset and ask one question: "Do you require a grant of probate to release this account, or will an indemnity or declaration do?" Each institution sets its own threshold — many release smaller accounts (commonly under roughly $25,000, but every institution differs) without a grant.

You will almost always need probate if:

• The deceased owned BC real estate in their sole name — the land title office requires a grant to transfer or sell it
• An institution holding a significant account says it requires one

Assets that usually pass outside probate entirely:

• Joint accounts and jointly owned homes with right of survivorship
• RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and life insurance with a named beneficiary

Confirm with each institution before assuming, and get the answer in writing where you can. If everything can be released without a grant and there's no solely owned real estate, you may not need probate at all — see the small-estate question below.

Yes — no BC law requires an executor to live in BC, or even in Canada, and citizenship doesn't matter. But where you live changes the job:

Inside Canada, outside BC (an Alberta sibling handling a Victoria estate, say): mostly logistics — court documents can be couriered, banks handle estates remotely, and you'll want someone local checking the empty house (see the empty-house question). One wrinkle worth an accountant conversation: for tax purposes the estate generally "lives" where the executor manages it from, which can shift which province taxes the estate's income while it's open.

Outside Canada: think hard before accepting. The CRA decides an estate's tax residence by where its real management and control happens (the Supreme Court's Fundy Settlement decision) — so an executor abroad can make the entire estate a non-resident trust, bringing cross-border tax filings, potentially higher tax, and lost planning options for Canadian beneficiaries. On top of that, the court can require a non-resident executor to post an estate administration bond — security that protects beneficiaries and creditors — before it grants probate. You can ask the court to reduce or waive the bond (written consent from all adult beneficiaries helps), but that application adds time and cost.

If you're named and live abroad: talk to a BC estates lawyer before applying — the directory lists probate lawyers by region. And remember that declining is painless if you haven't started handling estate assets: you sign Form P17 (Notice of Renunciation), and the alternate executor or an administrator applies instead — see the renunciation question.

No. In Canada, debts don't pass to family when someone dies — not to children, not to a spouse, not to the executor. Credit cards, loans, and lines of credit are paid from the estate's money, and if the estate runs out, what's left generally dies with the person. You're only personally on the hook for a debt you already signed onto yourself: a loan you co-signed or guaranteed, or an account where you were a true joint account holder. (Being an authorized user on their credit card does NOT make you liable — there's a difference between a card in your name on their account and a debt you co-signed.)

What to actually do as executor:

1. Build the debt list. Watch a full month of mail (the mail-forwarding question explains how to redirect it), go through bank statements for automatic payments, and request the deceased's credit report — Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada will mail it to an executor who sends a written request with a copy of the death certificate and the will or grant.
2. Notify each creditor in writing with a copy of the death certificate and ask them to freeze the account and stop interest where possible. If collectors call family, the line is: "The estate is being administered — please send the claim in writing to the estate." Nobody has to promise payment on the phone.
3. Pay nothing from your own wallet. Estate bills wait for estate money (the estate-account question covers how). The bank can release funds from the deceased's frozen account for the funeral and probate fee.
4. If the debts might exceed the assets, stop. An insolvent estate has a strict legal payment order (roughly: funeral and administration costs first, then secured and priority debts including CRA, then everyone else) — paying the "loudest" creditor first can make you personally liable. Talk to a probate lawyer or a Licensed Insolvency Trustee before paying anyone, and remember you can decline the executor role entirely if you haven't started (see the renunciation question).

The one real personal-liability trap: distributing to beneficiaries before debts and taxes are paid — especially before the CRA clearance certificate (see that question). Debts first, family second; that order protects you.

An estate account is a chequing account titled "Estate of [name]" — it's where the estate's money lands (bank balances once probate is granted, the house sale, tax refunds) and where the estate's bills get paid from (funeral, probate filing fee, utilities on the empty house, the lawyer). Open one early. It keeps estate money completely separate from yours and gives you a clean, line-by-line record for the beneficiaries, the court, and the CRA — which is exactly the record you'll need when it's time to get your final accounts approved.

How to do it:

1. Pick a bank — any bank. You can open an estate account at any bank or credit union; it does not have to be where the deceased banked, though their bank is often simplest because it already holds the money and has an estate file open. Every major bank has a dedicated estates team — call and say "I'm the executor; I'd like to book an appointment to open an estate account," or ask for "estate services" at a branch.
2. Bring: two pieces of government ID, a death certificate (original or notarial copy — the funeral director's statement is usually accepted), the original or notarial copy of the will, and the grant of probate if you have it yet.
3. Expect a two-stage process. Most banks will open the account before probate is granted — but they generally won't release the deceased's own funds into it until they see the grant. For smaller balances, many banks will release without probate if you sign an indemnity — ask directly: "What's your threshold for releasing funds without a grant of probate?"
4. Use the frozen-account exceptions meanwhile. Even before probate, the deceased's bank can usually pay the funeral invoice and the probate filing fee straight from the frozen account — bring the invoice (see the frozen-account question).

Two practical notes: order 5–10 official death certificates from the funeral home at the start — nearly every institution wants to see one. And run every single estate transaction through this one account; mixing estate money with your own is the fastest way to lose beneficiaries' trust.

Redirect the mail first — it's your best tool for finding assets, debts, and subscriptions you don't know exist. Then work through phone and online accounts as the statements surface them.

1. Mail: Canada Post deceased mail forwarding. Go to any post office with your government ID, a death certificate (a funeral director's certificate also works), and proof you're the legal representative — the grant of probate or letters of administration. No probate yet? Canada Post has its own Statutory Declaration form (40-076-696) for exactly this — ask at the counter. (If the death certificate names you as the representative, that alone is enough.) Standard forwarding fees apply; 12 months is the safe choice so annual statements — tax slips, insurance renewals — reach you. Verify current pricing at the counter.
2. Phone: call the carrier's regular support line and say you're closing (or transferring) the account of someone who has died. They'll ask for a death certificate copy. Do this after a month or two of mail-watching — the phone often receives verification codes you may need for legitimate account closures.
3. Subscriptions and streaming: cancel each one as it shows up on bank and card statements. This is a big reason the estate account and statement review matter — small charges quietly drain the estate.
4. Email and social media: use each platform's official deceased-user process, not their saved passwords. Logging into a dead person's accounts — even with good intentions — can breach the platform's terms and creates questions you don't want as executor. Instead: Google — search "submit a request regarding a deceased user's account" for its official form; Apple — check whether they set up a Legacy Contact (Digital Legacy); otherwise Apple Support can close the account with documentation; Facebook/Instagram — their help pages let you memorialize or remove the profile with a death certificate. Before closing an email account, note which bills arrive there and switch them to paper statements — your mail forward will catch them.

Keep a one-page log of every account you close and the date — it slots straight into your final accounting.

Yes — but almost entirely in ways you can see coming. Executor liability in BC isn't a lightning strike; it comes from a handful of specific, well-marked traps, and each one has a protective habit attached. Here they are, in the order they usually bite.

Trap 1 — paying everyone out before the taxes are settled. Canada's Income Tax Act (s.159) says the executor must get a clearance certificate from the CRA before distributing the estate — and if you distribute without one, you become personally liable for the deceased's unpaid taxes, up to the value of what you handed out. The fix is procedural, not scary: file the final return, then request the certificate (our clearance certificate answer walks through exactly how), or hold back a comfortable reserve until it arrives.

Trap 2 — distributing too soon. BC law (WESA s.155) tells executors not to distribute within 210 days of the grant of probate unless every beneficiary consents or the court orders otherwise. That window exists so spouses and children can bring a wills-variation claim; pay everything out early and a successful claim can land on you. The fix is patience — our 210-day answer covers what you can and can't do during the wait.

Trap 3 — the creditor you didn't know about. If a debt surfaces after you've distributed, you can be exposed — unless you published a notice to creditors in the BC Gazette and waited out the 30-day claim window first. One ad, roughly $68, and unknown-creditor risk moves off your shoulders. Our creditor-notice answer has the exact mechanics.

Trap 4 — letting the assets rot on your watch. The BC Supreme Court has put it plainly: the executor's primary duty is to preserve the estate's assets. The classic failure is the empty house whose insurance quietly lapses — vacancy clauses can void coverage after about 30 days, and an uninsured loss can become your loss. Deal with the insurer in the first week (our empty-house answer shows exactly what to say and get in writing).

The protective sequence, in one line: secure and insure everything → publish the creditor notice → file the taxes and get (or hold back for) the clearance certificate → wait out the 210 days → collect releases from beneficiaries → then distribute.

Two comforts to close on. Reasonable professional advice is paid by the estate, not by you — nervous executors are exactly who estate lawyers and accountants are for (our directory lists both, by region). And if the job looks bigger than you want to carry, you can hire an agent to do the legwork under your authority, or step aside before you start — see our renouncing answer.

You're not powerless, and the limbo can't legally go on forever. BC has a formal mechanism built for exactly this — but start with the cheap step first.

Step 1 — the direct ask, in writing. A short, dated letter or email: "Do you intend to apply for probate? The estate can't move until someone does. If we haven't heard from you by [two weeks out], we'll take the formal steps available to us." Grief, overwhelm, and not knowing where to start explain most stalled executors — a clear nudge (maybe paired with a link to a guide like ours) resolves many of these without any court paperwork.

Step 2 — the citation. If the silence continues, any person interested in the estate — a beneficiary, or whoever would administer next — can serve the named executor with a citation under Rule 25-11 of BC's Supreme Court Civil Rules. It's a formal written demand, served on them, requiring them to get on with probate. It is not a lawsuit; it's paperwork. Most people have a probate lawyer prepare and serve it (a contained, modest-cost task — our directory lists probate lawyers by region).

What the citation triggers — two clocks:

• The cited executor has 14 days after being served to answer (show the grant, or state they've applied and are proceeding). No answer in 14 days → they are deemed to have renounced — legally treated as having stepped aside.
• Even if they answer, failing to actually obtain the grant within 6 months of being served → deemed renounced as well. Stalling past both clocks isn't an option.

Step 3 — someone else takes over. Once the named executor is out (renounced or deemed to have renounced): the alternate executor named in the will steps up and applies normally. If the will names no alternate, a beneficiary applies for a grant of administration with will annexed — same court process, and BC law (WESA s.131) sets the pecking order: first a beneficiary applying with the consent of beneficiaries holding a majority interest in the estate, then a beneficiary without that consent, then anyone else the court considers appropriate. Our administrator answer walks through that application.

One important wrinkle: if the executor started the job — gathered assets, dealt with banks, paid bills — and then stalled, they've likely "intermeddled" and generally can't simply renounce. Getting them out then takes a court application to remove and substitute them. That's genuine estate-litigation territory: talk to a probate lawyer early rather than late.

(Reading this as the named executor who doesn't want the job? The clean exit — renouncing before you touch anything — is covered in our renouncing answer.)

Almost nobody leaves a tidy list. Executors reconstruct the estate the same way every time: paper first, then the registries most people have never heard of.

1. The paper sweep. Redirect the mail immediately — statements, bills, and dividend cheques will walk the estate to your door for months (our mail answer covers Canada Post's process for a deceased person's mail). Then: the most recent tax return and Notice of Assessment (every income source hints at an account), 12 months of bank statements (recurring debits reveal insurance policies, investment contributions, subscriptions, storage lockers), and the deceased's professionals — lawyer, accountant, financial advisor — who often know exactly what exists. Check for a home filing cabinet, and the obvious-but-forgotten: the wallet, the glovebox, the email inbox if you can lawfully access it.

2. Use the CRA as a map. Register with the CRA as the estate's legal representative — you send them the death certificate plus the will (or Form RC552 if there's no will); processing takes about a month (~28 business days). Once you're on file, the deceased's slips become your asset map: T5s show which banks paid interest, T4RSP/T4RIF slips reveal registered accounts, T3s point to investment funds.

3. Open the safety deposit box. Banks will open a deceased customer's box before probate for exactly this purpose — searching for a will and listing the contents. It's supervised: you attend, a bank officer witnesses and inventories. Call the branch, say the boxholder has died, and ask for their deceased-estates process and what ID and proof of death to bring.

4. Search the registries. These are free or nearly free, and routinely surface money families didn't know about:

• BC Unclaimed Property Society — bcunclaimed.ca, free search. Dormant credit-union accounts, unpaid wages, deposits, court funds.
• Bank of Canada unclaimed balances — free online registry. Accounts at federally regulated banks that sat dormant ~10 years get transferred here, and they're held for decades (30–100 years), so old accounts remain findable.
• Lost life insurance — OLHI (the national life & health insurance ombudservice) runs a free policy search for deceased persons. Conditions: the death was more than 3 months but less than 2 years ago, and you have reasonable grounds to think a policy exists (a premium on a bank statement is exactly that).
• Property — a title search through myLTSA confirms what real estate they owned (about $15 all-in per search; any notary or lawyer can run it in minutes too).
• Vehicles — ICBC, covered in our vehicle-transfer answer.

5. Keep a running inventory as you go. You'll need it anyway: the probate application's affidavit of assets and liabilities (Form P10 — see our forms explainer) wants date-of-death values. Banks provide date-of-death balance letters on request, and for the house or significant contents, a certified appraiser's retrospective valuation is the clean answer (our directory lists estate appraisers).

It depends entirely on how the title was held — so the first move is to look. A title search through myLTSA takes minutes and costs about $15 all-in (our finding-everything answer covers it, and any lawyer or notary can run one while you wait). What you find puts you on one of two very different paths.

Path 1 — the property was in joint tenancy (very common for couples). The survivor already owns the whole property by right of survivorship — no probate needed for this asset. What's left is paperwork: an application called a Transmission to Surviving Joint Tenant, filed with BC's Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA). The survivor can file it themselves online using the BC Services Card app, or have a notary or lawyer do it. You'll need the original death certificate (our death-certificate answer covers ordering copies). The registration fee is about $84 per property, plus an $11 Land Owner Transparency Act declaration, and the transfer is exempt from Property Transfer Tax (the survivorship exemption — the online application claims it for you). A caution before you rush: if the survivor plans to sell or the family situation is complicated, a quick conversation with a notary or lawyer first is cheap insurance.

Path 2 — the property was in the deceased's name alone (or a tenant-in-common share). This one runs through probate. Once the court issues the grant, you — the executor — file a Form 17 (Transmission to Executor or Administrator) with the LTSA. It moves the title into your name as personal representative: not a gift to you, but the legal handle you need before the property can be sold or passed to a beneficiary. Filing it takes: a court-certified copy of the grant of probate, a court-certified copy of the estate's Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Distribution (the same disclosure document from your probate application — our forms explainer covers it), a Property Transfer Tax return (a transmission to the executor is exempt — exemption code 09 — but the return still gets filed), and the transparency declaration. Same fee: about $84 per parcel. You can technically self-file with the BC Services Card app, but in practice most executors have the lawyer or notary who helped with probate handle this step — LTSA staff are strictly forbidden from giving advice, and title paperwork is unforgiving of small errors.

Then: selling vs. passing it to a beneficiary. Selling is a normal conveyance from you as personal representative — mind the 210-day wait (our 210-day answer) and see our answer on selling the house for timing. Transferring to a beneficiary needs one more piece of honesty most guides skip: there is no blanket Property Transfer Tax exemption just because someone inherits under a will. The common exemptions are conditional — the deceased's principal residence going to a related individual (spouse, child, parent, and similar) is exempt, and so is a qualifying family farm. But a rental property or a piece of bare land going to a beneficiary can attract PTT. Before you register that transfer, have the lawyer or notary confirm which exemption code (if any) applies — a five-minute question that can save a five-figure surprise.

Nobody under 19 — BC's age of majority — can legally receive their inheritance directly. Someone must hold it for them, and who depends entirely on what the will says. If it says nothing, the answer is a government office most families have never heard of.

If the will set up a trust — the good scenario. Many wills leave a child's share "in trust" and name a trustee (often the executor) to hold and manage it, sometimes past 19 — to 21 or 25. If that's your will, the trustee holds the money on the will's terms, can typically pay for the child's needs along the way, and the Public Guardian and Trustee stays out of it. Follow the will.

If the will names the child directly with no trust — or there's no will at all. BC law (Wills, Estates and Succession Act, s. 153) is blunt: the executor or administrator must pay the child's share to the Public Guardian and Trustee of BC (the PGT) — a government office that acts as trustee for minors — unless a court appoints someone else. This surprises parents every time, so let's say it plainly: a parent does not automatically get to hold a child's inheritance. The Family Law Act (s. 176) says being a guardian doesn't make you the trustee of your child's property.

The exceptions worth knowing:

• Small amounts: up to $10,000 can be delivered directly to the child's guardian, who holds it in trust (Family Law Act s. 178 — the $10,000 cap is set by regulation; confirm the current figure before relying on it).
• A court-appointed trustee: a parent or other suitable adult can apply to the BC Supreme Court to be appointed trustee of the child's share (Family Law Act s. 179) instead of the PGT. Families do this when the amount is significant and they want it managed at home — it's a real application with a real plan the court must approve, so this is a job for a probate lawyer (our directory lists them by region).

What the PGT actually does — and charges. The PGT invests and manages the money, can release funds for the child's benefit while they're a minor, and pays out whatever remains when the child turns 19. It isn't free: current PGT fees are 3.75% of capital coming in, 3.75% of income earned, and an asset-management fee of 0.7% per year, plus GST. Competent, safe — and impersonal, with a lump-sum handover at 19 whether the 19-year-old is ready or not.

What you actually do as executor: if a minor's share is heading to the PGT, contact the PGT's Child and Youth Services early (trustee.bc.ca) — they'll tell you exactly how to pay funds in and what documentation they need, and paying the PGT properly discharges your obligation for that share. Don't improvise an informal arrangement with the family instead; it leaves you on the hook.

And if you're reading this while writing your own will: this whole page is the argument for naming a trustee. A one-paragraph trust clause is the difference between a person you chose managing your child's money and a government office doing it for a fee.

Yes. Keep every receipt — this is one of the clearest rules in the whole job. Executors front money constantly in the early weeks (the funeral deposit, the death certificates, the house insurance) because the estate's own money is still frozen, and BC law treats paying you back not as a favour but as a first charge on the estate — BC courts have said executors are entitled to be indemnified out of the estate for all proper expenses, ahead of what beneficiaries receive.

What counts as reimbursable. The test is simple: was it a reasonable cost of administering this estate? Typical examples: the funeral bill or deposit if you paid it personally (reasonable funeral costs sit at the very top of what an estate pays — and check our funeral-payment answer first, because the bank will often pay the funeral home directly from the frozen account so you never have to front it); death certificates; the probate filing fee ($200) and the probate fees themselves if you advanced them (our cost answer covers those); insurance, utilities, locks, and yard maintenance on the empty house (our empty-house answer); appraisal fees; reasonable travel for estate business; postage, copies, courier. If a prudent person managing this estate would have spent it, it qualifies.

What doesn't count. Your time — that's executor remuneration, a separate thing with its own rules and its own answer (see our executor-pay answer; up to 5% of the estate, and it comes with tax consequences reimbursement doesn't have). Also out: costs that mainly benefit you personally, and extravagance — courts have trimmed lavish spending charged to modest estates. When in doubt, ask yourself whether you'd be comfortable defending the receipt to the beneficiaries, because that's literally the process.

The mechanics — three habits that make this painless:

1. Keep receipts and a running log from day one: date, amount, what, why. A phone photo of every receipt into one folder is enough.
2. Repay yourself from the estate account once it's open (our estate-account answer covers setting one up) — a clean transfer per expense or batch, never vague round numbers. Don't reimburse in cash, and never mix estate money with your own.
3. Show it in the accounting. Before final distribution you'll present accounts to the beneficiaries for sign-off (releases), and your expense log slots straight in. Transparent receipts get approved without a blink; mystery withdrawals start family wars.

Two cautions. If the estate looks like it might not cover its debts, stop fronting money and get advice before paying anyone — insolvent estates have a strict priority order and a personal-pocket free-for-all is how executors get burned (our estate-debts guide covers this). And if you're fronting significant amounts simply because the estate account isn't open yet, push that step forward — most banks can open one quickly once you bring the will and death certificate.

First, the fear most people bring to this question: no, the government does not take the estate. When there's no will, a BC law — the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA) — sets out exactly who inherits, in what order. You can't change the order, and neither can the family.

If there's a spouse and no children or grandchildren: the spouse inherits everything.

If there's a spouse and children you had together: the spouse gets the household furnishings, plus the first $300,000 of the estate (called the preferential share), plus half of whatever remains. The children split the other half equally.

If any child is from another relationship (a blended family): the spouse's preferential share drops to $150,000 — the half-and-half split of the remainder works the same way.

Who counts as a "spouse": someone married to the person, or someone who lived with them in a marriage-like relationship for at least 2 continuous years. A couple who separated before the death — with the relationship genuinely over — generally no longer count as spouses under WESA, even if the divorce was never finalized. And if two people both qualify (it happens more than you'd think), they either agree in writing how to divide the spousal share or a court decides. Blended-family and two-spouse situations are where intestacy fights start — if that's your file, spend an hour with an estate lawyer before distributing anything (our probate lawyer directory is a place to start).

If there's no spouse: everything goes to the children equally (a deceased child's share flows down to their own children). No descendants → parents. No parents → siblings, then nieces and nephews, and outward from there. The law stops at relatives of the fourth degree (roughly: great-great-grandparents' line, great-aunts/uncles, first cousins); only if no one that close exists does the estate go to the provincial government under the Escheat Act — genuinely rare.

A child under 19 can't be handed their share directly — it's held for them, usually by BC's Public Guardian and Trustee, until they turn 19. (See our answer on a child inheriting for how that works and what it costs.)

Who runs all this with no executor? Someone — usually the spouse, then the children — applies to the court for a grant of administration without will annexed using Form P5. We cover who has priority and how to apply in our answer on becoming the administrator.

Foxglove is a guide, not a law firm — this isn't legal advice. The dollar figures come from WESA sections 20–26 as of July 2026; verify current figures at bclaws.gov.bc.ca before relying on them.

BC is one of the easiest places in North America to challenge a will's distribution — and as executor, you need to know how that works, because it changes what you're allowed to do and when.

Who can claim: only the deceased's spouse (married, or 2+ years marriage-like) and children — and yes, that includes financially independent adult children. Under section 60 of WESA, they can ask the court to rewrite the will's distribution if it didn't make "adequate, just and equitable" provision for them. Courts weigh both legal obligations (like support duties the person had while alive) and moral ones — what a reasonable person in their shoes would have done. That framework comes from the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Tataryn v. Tataryn Estate (1994) and still governs today. Friends, siblings, and caregivers cannot bring this kind of claim.

The deadlines shape your whole timeline. A claim must be filed within 180 days of the estate grant being issued, and served on you within 30 days after that window closes. Add them up: 210 days. That's exactly why BC law bars you from distributing the estate for 210 days after the grant unless everyone who could claim consents in writing or a court orders otherwise — the waiting period exists so no one can empty the estate before a claim lands. (See our answer on the 210-day rule.)

If a claim arrives, your job is strict neutrality. You don't take sides — not even the will's side. The beneficiaries whose shares are attacked defend them, in their own names, with their own money. You must not spend estate funds fighting to preserve the will's split; executors who do can be ordered to repay it personally. What you do: safeguard the assets, freeze any distribution plans, provide the facts (the will, the asset list, family circumstances) to the court and parties, and keep beneficiaries informed about the delay.

What to actually do the day you're served (or seriously threatened): call an estate litigation lawyer — this is not a self-help zone (our probate lawyer directory includes litigation-side firms; ask specifically about "wills variation defence for an executor"). Don't distribute anything. Write down what you've already paid out and keep every record.

And breathe: most estates never see a claim. If day 210 passes with nothing served, you distribute normally.

Foxglove is a guide, not a law firm — this isn't legal advice. Deadlines come from WESA ss. 60–61 and 155 as of July 2026; verify at bclaws.gov.bc.ca, and treat any claim as a call-a-lawyer-today event.

Your probate application includes Form P10 — the Affidavit of Assets and Liabilities — with an exhibit called the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Distribution. It lists everything the person owned that passes through the estate, valued at its fair market value on the date of death — gross values, meaning you list the house at full market value and show the mortgage separately as a debt rather than subtracting it. These numbers drive the probate fee (roughly 1.4% above $50,000 — see our answer on probate costs) and, later, the final tax return. Here's how you actually get each number:

The house or land. Order a realtor's market opinion (a comparative market analysis — most realtors do this free, and courts routinely accept it for the probate application) or a written appraisal. The BC Assessment notice is a tempting shortcut, but its value is set as of July 1 of the prior year — it can be badly off the current market. For the tax side it matters more: CRA treats death as a deemed sale of property at fair market value on the final return, and if the number is ever questioned, a written appraisal from an AACI- or CRA-designated appraiser (Appraisal Institute of Canada) is far stronger evidence than a realtor letter. For a higher-value home, the few hundred dollars is worth it — our certified appraiser directory lists estate-experienced options.

Bank accounts. Ask each bank's estate services department, in writing, for the date-of-death balance including interest accrued to that date. They produce these letters routinely — keep every one in the estate file.

Investments. Ask the brokerage or advisor for a date-of-death valuation letter for each account. How gains are measured for tax can get technical — that part is your estate accountant's job, not yours.

Vehicles and boats. Current market listings for comparable ones, or a written dealer/appraiser opinion.

Jewellery, art, collections. For anything significant, use a qualified personal-property appraiser — in Canada, look for credentials from the International Society of Appraisers (ISA) or the Canadian Personal Property Appraisers Organization (CPPAO, successor to the former CPPAG).

Found something later? File a supplemental affidavit (Form P14) to correct the record — it's routine, not a crisis.

Foxglove is a guide, not a law firm or tax advisor. Form numbers and the fee structure are current as of July 2026 — verify on the BC government's probate forms page and bclaws.gov.bc.ca.

The urge to "deal with the house" comes fast — and so do relatives with boxes. Slow down for a week and do this in order; it protects you personally.

1. Secure and insure — this week. If the home is now empty, confirm who has keys (change the locks if you're not sure) and call the home insurer within days to tell them it's vacant. Standard homeowner policies restrict or void coverage on an empty house, often after just 30 days — you usually need a vacancy permit or vacant-home policy. An uninsured loss here can land on you.

2. Inventory before anything leaves. Walk every room with your phone: video plus photos, and a written list of anything valuable. As executor you're accountable to the beneficiaries (and potentially the court) for what was in that house. "Mom said I could have it" is not a system — the inventory is.

3. The will goes first. Specific gifts — "my ring to Sarah" — must go to the named people. Never sell, donate, or hand out an item the will names, no matter who asks.

4. Know what can go early and what should wait. Perishables, expired items, and true junk can go anytime. Significant-value items are safest valued (see our valuation answer) and kept — or at least not distributed to family — until the 210-day claim window after the grant has passed, because a successful claim can unwind what you handed out. If the family divides household items, write the agreement down and have everyone sign it.

5. Clearing it for real — three routes, usually combined.

• Estate sale / contents sale company: they price, stage, advertise, run the sale, and (often) clear what's left. They work on commission — rates aren't regulated in BC and vary widely (industry commentary commonly cites 30–50% of proceeds), so get written quotes from 2–3 companies and ask exactly what's included: advertising, staffing, cleanout of unsold items, insurance, and when you get paid. Our estate sale company directory is a starting point.
• Donation: charities take furniture and household goods; the estate can often claim a charitable tax receipt for donated goods, but in-kind donation tax rules are genuinely complex (valuation, which return claims it, timing) — mention it to the estate accountant before assuming the credit.
• Junk removal last, once the sellable and donatable are gone.

Keep every receipt — dump fees, cleaners, movers, insurance top-ups are estate expenses you can reimburse yourself for (see our answer on out-of-pocket costs).

Foxglove is a guide, not a law firm — this isn't legal advice. The 210-day figure comes from WESA s.155 as of July 2026; verify at bclaws.gov.bc.ca.

This is the moment most executors first feel stuck: the funeral home wants payment in days, and the deceased's bank account — the obvious source — locked the moment the bank learned of the death. Here's the part almost nobody tells you: the freeze has a built-in exception for exactly this bill.

Banks routinely pay the funeral invoice directly from the deceased's frozen account, before probate, and often before anything else is sorted out. The major Canadian banks all do it; they treat funeral costs (and, at most banks, essential ongoing bills like the mortgage and utilities — see our empty-house answer) as legitimate charges against the account even while it's restricted.

How to actually do it:

1. Get the invoice from the funeral home — unpaid is fine, in fact it's the cleanest path, because the bank typically issues payment directly to the funeral home rather than to you.
2. Call the deceased's bank and ask for their estate department (every major bank has one — the branch can transfer you), or book an appointment at the branch. Say: "I'm the executor. I have a funeral invoice — can it be paid from the account?"
3. Bring: the funeral invoice, proof of death (the funeral director's Statement of Death usually works at this stage — see our death-certificate answer), the will if you have it (to show you're the named executor), and your own government ID.
4. If you already paid the funeral from your own pocket, bring the receipt marked paid and ask for reimbursement from the account instead — banks handle that too, with proof you personally paid it.

Each bank's exact paperwork list varies a little, so ask on that first call what they need — but don't let anyone tell you the money is unreachable until probate. For this one bill, it almost never is.

Two related notes: if the account was a true joint account with a spouse, it usually isn't frozen at all — it carries on as the survivor's (see our joint-account answer). And the CPP death benefit — a one-time payment of $2,500, or up to $5,000 for some 2025-and-later deaths — exists largely to help with funeral costs; our CPP death benefit answer walks through applying.

Yes. Separate from the one-time death benefit — $2,500 in most cases where a spouse survives (see that question) — the CPP pays a survivor's pension — a monthly payment to the deceased's legal spouse or common-law partner, for as long as they live. There's also a children's benefit: a monthly amount for each dependent child under 18, or under 25 if in full-time school.

Who qualifies: you were legally married to the deceased at the time of death, or you lived together in a common-law relationship for at least a year up to the date of death. A separated legal spouse can still qualify if the deceased had no common-law partner at death.

How to apply — and why speed matters:

1. Apply as soon as possible. Service Canada will only back-pay a maximum of 12 months. Every month of delay past that first year is money gone.
2. Two ways to apply: online through My Service Canada Account (canada.ca — search "CPP survivor's pension apply"), or on paper with form ISP1300 ("Application for CPP Survivor's Pension and Surviving Child's Benefits") — download it from the canada.ca forms catalogue; many funeral homes also hand it out. One kit covers both the survivor's pension and the children's benefit.
3. Have ready: the deceased's Social Insurance Number and your own (write both on every document you send), a copy of the death certificate, your marriage certificate or proof of the common-law relationship, and your banking details for direct deposit.
4. Send it: submit online, mail the paper form to Service Canada, or drop it at any Service Canada Centre.

Timing and amount: the pension starts at the earliest the month after death, and the first payment typically arrives 6–12 weeks after Service Canada receives a complete application. The amount depends on how much the deceased paid into CPP and the survivor's age — there's no flat figure, so verify current maximums on canada.ca.

Executor's note: this is the survivor's own application, not the estate's — but pointing the spouse to it (and to the 12-month deadline) is one of the kindest things on the checklist.

BC settled the who-decides question by statute, which surprises families who assume it's a group decision. It isn't a vote — it's a list.

The legal order. BC's Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act (s.5) sets out exactly who has the right to control what happens to the person's remains, in priority order: first, the executor named in the will; then the spouse; then adult children; then adult grandchildren — and the list continues from there (guardian of a deceased minor, parents, adult siblings, and so on). The funeral home will ask who has authority, and this list is what they follow.

What that means practically. If you're the named executor, the decisions — burial or cremation, what kind of service, where — are legally yours, even if family members disagree. (Legally yours is not the same as best made alone: talking it through prevents wounds that outlast the paperwork. But when someone must decide, the Act says it's you.) If there's no will, the spouse decides; if there's no spouse, the adult children — and where people at the same level can't agree, see the disputes note below.

Before deciding anything, check for instructions. Look in the will and personal papers for wishes, and ask the funeral home to check for a prepaid (preneed) funeral contract — funeral providers in BC are licensed by Consumer Protection BC, and prepaid funds must be held in trust, so a plan the person bought years ago is still good. It may settle both the decisions and the bill at once.

Real deadlocks have a real path. Anyone claiming they should have sole control can apply to the BC Supreme Court, and the court can put the successful applicant at the top of the priority order. It's rare — but it means a genuine standoff doesn't stay stuck.

Who pays: the estate. Reasonable funeral costs sit at the very top of what an estate must pay — ahead of ordinary debts, even when the estate can't cover everything it owes. You don't need to wait for probate to handle the invoice: the deceased's bank will typically pay the funeral home directly from the frozen account once you bring in the invoice and proof of death (our funeral-payment answer walks through that appointment step by step), and the one-time CPP death benefit ($2,500 — up to $5,000 in some cases) exists largely for this — our CPP answer covers applying.

One honest caveat: reasonable is doing real work in that sentence. Courts have trimmed lavish funerals charged to modest estates. If the estate is small, size the service to the estate — nobody is honoured by a bill the family ends up fighting over.

Don't panic, and don't assume the copy is worthless. BC courts can — and regularly do — accept a copy of a will for probate. But the road runs through a legal presumption you need to understand, and fair warning: this is one of the few problems on this site where you genuinely want a probate lawyer early.

First, exhaust the search — and write down every step. The court will later want proof you looked hard, so document as you go:

• Order the wills-notice search from Vital Statistics ($20, Form VSA 532) if you haven't — it won't hold a copy of the will, but it says where the will was when the notice was filed. Our wills-search answer walks through it.
• Call the lawyer or notary who drafted it (the copy usually says who on its backing page or footer). Law firms and notaries routinely store original wills in their vaults. If the firm has closed, contact the Law Society of BC (or the Society of Notaries Public of BC for a notary) and ask who took custody of the closed practice's files — there is always a designated custodian.
• Open the safe deposit box. Banks will open a deceased customer's box before probate specifically to look for a will — supervised, with an inventory. Our finding-everything answer covers the appointment.
• Sweep the house properly: filing cabinets, desk drawers, the freezer (genuinely), fireproof boxes, and with executors of their parents' estates — originals hide in the last generation's paperwork.

Why the original matters: the presumption of revocation. If the original was last known to be in the will-maker's own possession and can't be found after death, BC law presumes they destroyed it on purpose — that is, revoked it. That presumption is the hurdle. It is rebuttable: the court will accept the copy if the evidence points to "lost," not "revoked."

What persuades a court. Applications to probate a copy turn on evidence like: the will was properly signed and witnessed (the drafting lawyer's file proves this); a thorough, documented search; the person's words and conduct after signing — still referring to the will, no falling-out with beneficiaries, no visit to a lawyer about changes; and their capacity timeline. That last one matters more than people expect: in a 2026 BC case (Jugovits Estate), the court accepted a copy because the will-maker developed dementia after signing — she couldn't have validly formed the intention to revoke, so the presumption collapsed.

The application itself asks the court to admit the copy to probate "in solemn form." Everyone with a stake — the people named in the copy and the people who'd inherit if there were no will — gets notice and a chance to respond. This is a real court application with affidavit evidence: budget for a probate lawyer (our directory lists them by region), and expect the timeline to stretch past a routine probate.

Two neighbouring problems, so you're not misdirected: if what you've found was never properly signed at all — a draft, notes, an unsigned printout — that's a different application (BC's "curative" power for informal documents, WESA s. 58), with its own test. And if the search truly comes up empty — no original, no copy — the estate is handled as if there were no will: our no-will administrator answer covers who applies and how BC law divides things.

Soon, and separately from everyone else you're notifying — the CRA doesn't find out automatically, and benefit payments keep flowing until it does.

Why it matters: any GST/HST credit, Canada Child Benefit, or carbon-rebate payments issued for periods after the death aren't the estate's to keep — they'll have to be repaid, and the clawback letter months later is an unwelcome surprise. Notifying the CRA also starts the process of putting you in charge of the tax file, which you'll need before anyone can file the final return.

How to actually do it — two steps:

1. Report the death. Call the CRA's individual enquiries line at 1-800-959-8281. Have the deceased's Social Insurance Number, their date of death, and your own name and contact information ready. Tell the agent you're the executor and you're reporting a death.

2. Get registered as the legal representative. The CRA won't discuss the deceased's file with you until it has proof of your authority. Send it a copy of the death certificate plus the will naming you as executor (or the grant of probate or administration, if you have one already) and your contact details — the agent on the phone will confirm the current way to submit these (mail to the deceased's tax centre, or upload online). Once processed, the CRA deals with you: you can see their tax slips, balances, and past returns, which is exactly what you (or your accountant) need for the final return.

Don't confuse the CRA with Service Canada — they're separate calls. Service Canada (1-800-277-9914) handles stopping CPP and OAS payments; see our answer on the CPP death benefit for that side. One death, at minimum two federal phone calls.

Timing: make the CRA call in your first couple of weeks — before benefit payment dates, and definitely before you try to file anything. Keep a few death certificates on hand (see our death-certificate answer); nearly every institution wants one.

At minimum one: the final return. Often two or three. This is the executor job people underestimate most, and it's also the one you can most safely hand to a professional.

The final return (the "terminal T1"): a normal-looking personal tax return covering January 1 up to the date of death. The executor is responsible for filing it. The deadline depends on when in the year the person died:

• Death between January 1 and October 31 → due April 30 of the following year (the normal tax deadline).
• Death between November 1 and December 31 → due 6 months after the date of death. (If the deceased — or their spouse — ran a business, a mid-June variant can apply; confirm the current rule with whoever prepares the return.)

One catch executors miss: if the person died early in the year before filing last year's return, that prior-year return is also yours to file — the deadline extends to 6 months after death if the death came before the normal due date.

Why the final return can bring a bigger bill than expected: at death, the law generally treats capital property — the cottage, the rental, the investment account — as if it were sold at fair market value the day before death (the "deemed disposition"), even though nothing was actually sold. Unrealized gains become taxable on the final return. A principal residence is usually sheltered by the principal-residence exemption; a cottage or rental usually is not. RRSPs and RRIFs are generally taxed as income on the final return too, unless they roll to a surviving spouse.

The estate's own return (T3): if the estate earns income after death — interest, dividends, rent, or gains when assets are actually sold — the estate itself becomes a taxpayer and files a T3 trust return for that income. Your accountant will set the estate's first year-end and handle the graduated-rate-estate election if it helps.

How to actually do it: this is precisely what an estate-experienced tax accountant is for — hand them the prior year's return, the tax slips, date-of-death investment and bank statements, and property details, and ask directly: "Can you handle the terminal return, any T3, and the clearance certificate?" (That last item is its own question — see our clearance-certificate answer.) Doing it yourself is realistic only for simple, all-registered-or-cash estates.

Strictly speaking it's optional. Practically, distributing everything without one is how executors end up paying the deceased's taxes personally — so treat it as a standard step, not an exotic one.

What it is: a letter from the CRA confirming that all of the deceased's (and the estate's) taxes have been paid or secured. Its legal effect is simple: with it, you can distribute the estate without fear of the CRA coming to you later; without it, if tax turns out to be owing after you've paid everyone out, the CRA can collect from you personally — up to the value of what you distributed. Your money, not the estate's.

When to apply: only after the paperwork is genuinely finished — every required return filed (final T1, any T3 for the estate), every notice of assessment received, and every balance paid. Applying earlier just gets the application bounced.

How to actually do it: the application is Form TX19 (Asking for a Clearance Certificate) — download it from canada.ca. It asks for a copy of the will and grant, a statement of the estate's assets and how you plan to distribute them, and the assessment details. Submit it the way the current form instructions direct (online through the CRA's representative portal, or by mail to the address listed for your region). If an accountant did the returns, have them do the TX19 too — it's a natural add-on, and worth asking for as part of the original quote.

Expect months, not weeks, for processing — confirm current CRA timelines when you apply. That's why experienced executors don't make beneficiaries wait for every dollar: the common practice is an interim distribution (pay out most of the estate once debts and the wills-variation window are clear) while keeping a holdback big enough to cover any plausible tax bill, then releasing the holdback when the certificate arrives.

Don't confuse this with BC's 210-day wills-variation clock — that's a separate waiting period about family claims, not taxes (see our 210-day answer). The careful executor clears both before the final payout.

Through an ICBC Autoplan broker — not a court, not an ICBC office. Any Autoplan broker (the same storefronts that do licence plates and insurance) can process an estate vehicle transfer; go in and say "I need to transfer a vehicle owned by someone who passed away."

What to bring:

• The death certificate (original or certified copy — the funeral director's proof of death often works for this; the broker will confirm).
• The vehicle's current registration (the paper the deceased kept in the glovebox, ideally with their signature on it).
• A completed Transfer/Tax Form (APV9T) — the same four-page form used for any BC vehicle sale. Download it from icbc.com (it needs original signatures, so print it) or just fill one out at the broker's counter.
• Proof of your authority — which one depends on the estate (next point).

The probate question: if the estate went (or is going) through probate, bring the grant of probate or administration — that's your authority to sign as seller. But if the entire estate is worth $25,000 or less, ICBC accepts a sworn Estate Declaration (form MV1476) instead, so a modest estate doesn't need probate just to move a car. Ask the broker for the form and what needs to be declared or notarized — confirm the current threshold and requirements with them, and see ICBC's "Checklist for Estate Transfers" on icbc.com for the document list that matches your situation.

Two common easy cases: if the vehicle was jointly owned (say, by spouses), it usually passes to the survivor outside the estate — death certificate plus registration is typically all the broker needs. And if you're transferring to a beneficiary under the will rather than selling, ask the broker about the PST exemption for estate transfers — bring the will; a genuine inheritance transfer is generally exempt while an ordinary sale is not (the broker applies the right code; confirm current rules).

Don't cancel the insurance before the transfer: an uninsured car in a driveway is a risk the estate carries. Ask the broker about keeping appropriate coverage on the vehicle until it's transferred or sold — they deal with estate vehicles constantly and will set it up in the same visit.

It depends less on the bank's paperwork than on who the two people were to each other. This surprises almost everyone.

Spouses or partners: this is the simple case, and it works the way people expect. The account doesn't freeze; it simply carries on as the survivor's. The survivor takes a death certificate (or funeral director's statement) into the branch and asks for the account to be retitled into their name alone. The money passes outside the will and outside probate.

A parent who added an adult child to the account: this is the case that causes real family fights, because the answer is the opposite of what the surviving child usually assumes. In 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada (a case called Pecore) settled it: when a parent gratuitously adds an adult child to their account, the law presumes the child holds the money in trust for the parent's estate — to be shared under the will — not that the child keeps it. The "right of survivorship" box ticked on the bank's form doesn't settle the question by itself. The presumption can be overcome, but only with real evidence the parent meant it as a gift: a written note or declaration, the bank's own account-opening intention form, something in the will, or clear statements the parent made to their lawyer, advisor, or family.

What to actually do:

• If you're the executor and the deceased had a joint account with one adult child: don't treat the money as automatically outside the estate. Ask the bank branch for the account-opening documents — banks keep intention paperwork, and it's often the single best piece of evidence either way. If the amount matters and family members disagree, get an estate lawyer's advice before anyone spends it (our directory lists probate lawyers by region).
• If you're the adult child on the account: don't drain it the week after the funeral, however certain you feel. If the estate later establishes the money belonged to it, you'll owe it back. Gather the evidence of what your parent intended, and if the other beneficiaries push back, that's a conversation to have with a lawyer early, not after the money's spent.
• Added a child as a convenience — just to help pay bills? That's precisely the arrangement the law presumes: helper, not heir to the account.

(One edge worth knowing: the presumption of gift still applies to minor children — but joint accounts with minors are rare.)

You can start the sale — you just can't finish it. Understanding which half is which saves executors months.

What you CAN do before the grant: clean out, repair, and stage the house; hire a realtor; list it; accept an offer. Estate sales happen this way all the time — the contract is simply written "subject to probate," with a completion date far enough out for the court to issue the grant. A realtor who's handled estates before will know exactly how to paper this (it's one of the reasons our directory has a probate-specialist realtor category); the buyer's side just needs to know upfront that completion waits on the court.

What you CANNOT do: transfer title. BC's land title system won't register a sale by an executor until two things have happened, in order:

1. The court issues the grant of probate (or administration) — see our answers on the probate forms and timeline for that process.
2. You register the transmission at the Land Title Survey Authority — an application (Form 17, with a court-certified copy of the grant) that puts the house into your name as executor. Your notary or lawyer files this; it's routine. Only then can the sale complete and title pass to the buyer.

In practice the lawyer or notary doing the conveyance handles step 2 alongside the sale completion — your job is mostly to get them the grant and to make sure the completion date in the contract is realistic. Probate timelines vary by registry and season; ask whoever files your probate application what they're currently seeing, and pad the completion date rather than betting on the best case.

The exception that skips all of this: if the house was owned in joint tenancy — most commonly with a spouse — it never enters the estate. The survivor files a death certificate with a Form 17 at the land title office and becomes sole owner, no probate required for that property.

One more clock to know about: transferring the house (or sale proceeds) to beneficiaries is restricted for 210 days after the grant unless everyone entitled consents or the court orders otherwise — that's BC's wills-variation window, covered in our 210-day answer. Selling to an outside buyer to pay debts and convert the asset is a different act from distributing it, but tell your lawyer the timeline you're hoping for and let them confirm the sequencing for your estate.

Yes to the bills — and the insurance question is the single most urgent thing on an executor's list that nobody warns you about. Take these in order of how fast they can hurt the estate.

Insurance — deal with it in the first week. Most Canadian home policies sharply restrict or void coverage once a home sits vacant for about 30 days — and some water-damage protections can lapse after just a few days of an unheated or unchecked house in winter. A house left empty by a death is exactly what these clauses target, and courts have sided with insurers who denied six-figure claims on estate homes that quietly sat vacant. If that happens on your watch, the loss can land on you personally, because preserving the estate's assets is the executor's legal duty.

How to actually do it: find the insurer or broker (the policy documents are often in the house; failing that, look for the premium payment on a bank statement and call that company). Call and say: "The policyholder died on [date]. The home is now vacant. I'm the executor. I need coverage to continue — what do you require?" Then get three things: (1) the death and vacancy noted on the policy in writing, (2) written confirmation coverage continues — an email is fine, a verbal assurance is not, and (3) the vacancy permit or vacant-home policy if they require one (expect a higher premium — it's a legitimate estate expense). Ask exactly what conditions apply: most insurers want the heat left on, the water shut off or the pipes drained, and someone physically checking the house on a set schedule — often every 48–72 hours in winter. Write down who's doing the checks and keep a simple log; that log is what protects a claim.

The bills — keep the ones that protect the house. Mortgage, property tax, strata fees, hydro and heat (your insurer's conditions likely require heat and power stay on): these keep getting paid, from the estate. Here's the how: the same bank exception that covers the funeral bill (see our funeral answer) generally extends to essential house costs — banks will typically keep the mortgage and utilities flowing from the deceased's restricted account once you show them the death certificate and the bills. Ask the bank's estate department to set that up in the same appointment. Cancel what doesn't protect the property — cable, phone, streaming, deliveries — and redirect the mail (Canada Post offers mail forwarding for the deceased; the postal clerk will ask for proof of death and your executor authority).

And make it look lived-in: lawn cut or driveway cleared, mail not piling up, a neighbour with your phone number. Empty-looking houses draw exactly the trouble vacancy clauses were written about.

No. Canada has no inheritance tax and no estate tax — money or property you inherit is not taxed in your hands, in BC or anywhere in the country. But three costs do come out of the estate before anyone inherits, and it helps to keep them straight:

1. The probate filing fee. Nothing on estates up to $25,000. Above that: 0.6% ($6 per $1,000) on the portion between $25,000 and $50,000, then 1.4% ($14 per $1,000) on everything above $50,000, plus a flat $200 filing fee. Quick estimate: about 1.4% of the estate's gross value. It's paid to the court registry from estate funds when your probate application is granted — the deceased's bank will usually release money from the frozen account for this (the same estate-desk exception that covers the funeral bill).
2. The final income tax return. The CRA treats the person as having sold their capital property (investments, real estate other than a principal residence) on the day they died, so unrealized capital gains are taxed on their final return. The estate pays this tax — not the beneficiaries.
3. RRSPs and RRIFs. The full remaining value counts as income on that final return unless it rolls over to a spouse or financially dependent child — see the RRSP question for the trap hiding in there.

One edge case: if the estate holds U.S. assets (a Palm Springs condo, U.S. shares), U.S. estate tax can apply — that's an accountant conversation. Fee figures come from BC's Probate Fee Act; verify current rates before filing.

Check the will first: if it sets a fee (a dollar amount or a percentage), that's what applies. If the will says nothing, BC's Trustee Act (section 88) entitles you to a "fair and reasonable" fee of up to 5% of the estate's gross value (capital and income combined), plus — for estates that take years to administer — a care-and-management fee of up to 0.4% of the estate's average value per year.

The 5% is a ceiling, not a default. Courts award what the actual work deserved, and full-maximum awards are rare — a BC registrar put it plainly: maximum remuneration "is not awarded as a matter of routine." A recent straightforward estate (two rental properties, bank accounts) landed at 3%.

Who signs off: you don't just take the money. Either every beneficiary agrees to your fee in writing — usually when they approve your final accounts, right before distribution — or, if anyone objects, the court's registrar sets the fee at a "passing of accounts" hearing. Pay yourself only after one of those happens.

Two practical notes. First, executor pay is taxable income — the CRA generally treats it as employment income, meaning the estate typically has to open a payroll account and issue you a T4; have the estate's accountant set this up. If you're also a beneficiary, remember: your inheritance is tax-free, your fee is not — which is why some family executors simply waive the fee. Second, out-of-pocket expenses (probate filing fees, travel, couriers) are reimbursed separately, on top of any fee.

Usually no — as long as there's a living named beneficiary. Accounts and policies with a valid designation (a beneficiary on an RRSP or insurance policy; a successor holder on a TFSA) pass directly to that person, outside the will. No probate, and no probate fee on that asset. To claim one, call the bank's estate department or the insurer's claims line and send a death certificate plus their claim form. The first question to ask every institution is: "Is there a named beneficiary or successor on this account?" — the answer decides everything that follows.

They DO go through probate if the estate is the named beneficiary, or nobody was named. Then the money joins the estate, waits for the grant like everything else, and counts toward the probate fee.

The trap executors miss (RRSPs and RRIFs): even when a named beneficiary is paid directly, the income tax on the full RRSP value lands on the deceased's final tax return. The beneficiary keeps the money; the estate pays the tax bill. (Exception: a spouse, common-law partner, or financially dependent child can roll it over tax-deferred.) Budget for that tax before you distribute anything — it's one of the most common ways executors end up personally short.

TFSAs are gentler: no tax on the value at death. A spouse named as successor holder takes over the account intact, still tax-sheltered. Anyone else receives the date-of-death value tax-free, but growth after death is taxable. Life insurance with a named beneficiary is the simplest of all: paid directly, tax-free, no probate.